1. Field
The present disclosure relates to network management. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and system for extending the routing domain in a network to a non-routing node.
2. Related Art
Currently, end stations in layer-2 networks have not been able to take advantage of the routing functionalities available in such networks. End stations can only operate as leaf nodes and are constrained to an interface with only one of the routing nodes. Consequently, an end station is required to exchange all the data with that node, and there is no node redundancy (e.g., for protection against routing node failures) available to end stations. Further more, other routing nodes in the network can send data to that end station only via one routing switch to which the end station is connected.
Meanwhile, layer-2 networking technologies continue to evolve. More routing functionalities, which have traditionally been the characteristics of layer-3 (e.g., IP) networks, are migrating into layer-2. Notably, the recent development of the Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) protocol allows Ethernet switches to function more like routing nodes. TRILL overcomes the inherent inefficiency of the conventional spanning tree protocol, which forces layer-2 switches to be coupled in a logical spanning-tree topology to avoid looping. TRILL allows routing bridges (RBridges) to be coupled in an arbitrary topology without the risk of looping by implementing routing functions in switches and including a hop count in the TRILL header.
However, a switch or end host not running the TRILL protocol cannot benefit from the rich set of functionalities provided in TRILL networks.